Minneapolis, MN – Financial services company Thrivent Investment Management Inc. has agreed to pay $325,000 to resolve allegations by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that it failed to maintain adequate controls to prevent its registered representatives from forging customer signatures over a seven-year period.
In a May letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent, Minneapolis-headquartered Thrivent agreed to pay the fine and to enhance its compliance procedures. The firm did not admit or deny the claims that, since 2017, at least 15 representatives had forged over 120 customer names on more than 260 firm documents, including account records and investment instructions.
FINRA noted that the alleged forgeries were not conducted “in furtherance of an unauthorized activity,” and that customers were neither harmed nor complained about the conduct. However, Thrivent’s actions still violated the regulator’s rules.
“Thrivent failed to have a reasonable system to supervise electronic signatures and maintained inaccurate records,” FINRA stated in the letter, while acknowledging that the firm had self-reported the issue.
